


Trickster

by sam_winchester_wears_makeup



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Online Dating, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Catfish - Freeform, Fluff, M/M, Online Dating, Online Relationship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-08
Packaged: 2018-04-19 17:10:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4754438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam_winchester_wears_makeup/pseuds/sam_winchester_wears_makeup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabe and Kevin were the hosts of a tv show called Trickster. They received the following entry from a woman named Meg.<br/>Dear Kevin and Gabe. My name is Meg. I’m writing to you because I think my friend is being messed with by someone online. His name is Cas, and he is a really great guy. I thought he just had a more introverted personality but recently he admitted to me that he is in an online relationship. I did a little snooping, sue me, and it all looks really suspicious. His name is Dean and he comes across as a perfect Midwestern farm boy. But on top of that, he drives a classic car and loves classic rock but he also has a sensitive, caring side. It just seems too perfect. As much as it will break his heart if it’s all a lie, I’d rather he know than continue to give his love and attention to someone who is messing with him. I’m not a sentimental person, but nobody messes with Cas. Please help him out. Meg</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trickster

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first published fic that I've written for the Supernatural fandom.  
> This is based on the concept from the MTV show Catfish. I do not own nor am I affiliated with MTV or Catfish. Feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism.  
> You can find me at http://sam-winchesterwearsmakeup.tumblr.com  
> Thanks to Bat for being an awesome beta! :)

“Alright Kev-o, looks like we got ourselves another e-mail!” Gabe said, tapping away at his laptop.  
  
“Don’t call me Kev-o” Kevin responded, not looking away from setting up a camera on the desk in front of Gabe. He stacked up another book to prop up the camera more. A few more people stood in front of the desk pointing various cameras and microphones at them. One of the cameramen chuckled a little at the banter.  
  
“We’ll talk about it later” Gabe waved away Kevin’s snipe. Kevin rolled his eyes but stopped fiddling with the camera and pulled up a chair next to Gabe. He pulled out yet another camera (a small digital one this time) and looked at the screen that Gabe had pulled up.  
  
“My best friend is being Tricked by a big, green tractor? Well that would definitely be a new one.” Kevin asked, reading the subject line of the e-mail off the screen.  
  
“Maybe it’s secretly the weed wacker pretending to be a tractor.” Gabe cracked back.  
  
Gabe and Kevin were the hosts of a tv show called Trickster. A few years ago, Gabe was a part of an online chat group and met someone by the name of ‘Trickster.’ He fell in love, believing ‘Trickster’ to be a beautiful Indian woman by the name of Kali. After she refused to video chat and always had an excuse for why they couldn’t meet up, Gabe finally took off his rose tinted glasses and turned to Kevin for help. Kevin and Gabe were not people you would imagine to be friends. In fact they weren’t until after Gabe asked him for his help.  
  
Kevin and Gabe went to the same college and only had one class together; Computers and Networking. Kevin seemed to excel in the course (Along with every other course he took, he would be proud to tell you) so Gabe came to him on bended knee to ask for his help in trying to figure out if Kali was who she said she was. Gabe was a TV/Film major and thought it could be a cool idea to film the process. So Kevin sat down with Gabe and they went through her facebook and all of their messages and they eventually discovered that ‘Kali’ was actually a man by the name of Baldur. He had created the profile to spy on his ex-girlfriend, Anna, who was a friend of Gabe’s. When Gabe started chatting with Kali, Baldur felt like he had to keep up the profile so that Anna wouldn’t get suspicious. In the end, Baldur felt a little bad about what he did but, frankly, was kind of a tool.  
The silver lining was that Gabe had his camera running the whole time. He channeled his disappointment and anger into editing all of his footage down into a documentary that he called ‘Trickster.’ It aired at a local film festival and eventually caught the eyes of some major TV producers. They came knocking at his door, pitching the idea of a TV show where he would help people find out who they are talking to online. Gabe agreed on one condition; That Kevin be offered a part in the show as well. Gabe and Kevin had reached an understanding and a sort of weird friendship while filming. Gabe was happy that Kevin accepted and now, two seasons under their belt, they were ready to start season 3. Which apparently would feature tractors.  
  
“Ok, let’s check this out.” Gabe said, clicking on the e-mail.  
  
“Dear Kevin and Gabe” Gabe read out. “My name is Meg. I’m writing to you because I think my friend is being messed with by someone online. His name is Cas, and he is a really great guy. We met our freshman year at college and, for some reason he wanted to be my friend. Two years later and I can’t seem to shake the guy. But he grew up with a really sheltered family so coming to college has been really overwhelming and he spent a lot of time in his dorm. I try to bring him out with me to parties so he can meet people but he seems more interested in his computer. I thought he just had a more introverted personality but recently he admitted to me that he is in an online relationship. I thought he meant that it was a long distance relationship but turns out he never met the guy. I did a little snooping, sue me, and it all looks really suspicious. This guy has a dating profile with ONE picture and claims not to have a facebook. His name is Dean and he comes across as a perfect Midwestern farm boy. But on top of that, he drives a classic car and loves classic rock but he also has a sensitive, caring side. It just seems too perfect. Like someone who took as much cool/nice stuff as they could think of and put them into one profile. Cas will be able to give you all the nitty gritty details, but I just don’t believe that this guy is legit. And as much as it will break his heart if it’s all a lie, I’d rather he know than continue to give his love and attention to someone who is messing with him. Cas has hopes of being a veterinarian and has been talking lately about how nice it would be to work with farm animals out in Lawrence, where Dean lives. I’m not a sentimental person, but nobody messes with Cas. Please help him out. Meg”  
  
“Ok, so that does seem a little suspicious. Dating profile, only one picture, claims not to have a facebook. Seriously, who doesn’t have a facebook these days?” Kevin asked. He swiveled the digital camera from the laptop screen to Gabe who was scratching his chin.  
  
"I don’t know. We’re hearing all of this second hand. Maybe this Cas guy video chats with his boyfriend and hasn’t told his friend!” Gabe said. Kevin let out an exaggerated sigh.  
  
Gabe was ever the hopeless romantic. He tried to keep things realistic and he never hyped up expectations for the people they filmed with, but he always tried to look on the bright side. If there was a good cop/bad cop on the show, then Kevin was always the bad cop.  
  
“Ok, well let’s video chat with Meg and see if we can find out more.” Kevin suggested. This was the usual next step in their formula. They video chat with whoever wrote in. They knew that the producers were already in touch with Meg and that she was just sitting and waiting for them to video chat with them. Sure enough, they logged into Skype and there was Meg’s username (NotxUnicorn) and she answered promptly when they called her.  
  
“Hey Meg!” Gabe said, when the curly haired woman appeared on screen. She appeared to be in a small bedroom, sitting cross legged on her bed.  
  
“Hey guys” she said. She had a low, almost smoky voice.  
  
“So tell us about your friend Cas.” Kevin asked.  
  
“Well, I met Cas my freshman year and I didn’t have a lot of friends and neither did he. We met up when we were put on a group project together in a psych class.” She ran a hand through her hair and she sighed. “Look, I’m not a nice person or whatever. But for some reason Clarence – Cas – seems to like me. He’s always been a really good friend to me and I don’t like the idea that someone may be fucking with him online. He grew up in a really religious family. Like, super religious. But last year he came out to me and he’s been really open about his sexuality since then and I know it’s not ok with his family. I don’t want him to settle for some jerk on a dating website because he’s afraid that nobody will accept him in real life.”  
  
“And what do you know about the guy that Cas has been chatting with?” Gabe asked.  
  
“I don’t know a lot about him. I know his name is Dean and that they met on OkCupid. The guys profile is super vague and he only has one picture, which is just him from a bit of a distance with some car. He claims not to have a facebook or a webcam. So all Cas does is either text him or call him. Cas and I go to school at USC and Dean is a mechanic in Kansas.”  
  
“Does Cas know that you’ve contacted us?” Gabe asked.  
  
“I told him that I was doing it and he said that he didn’t care.” Meg answered, shrugging. “I’m not sure if it’s because he didn’t think I would actually do it or if he is so convinced that this guy is real that he doesn’t think it will matter.”  
  
"Well, if Cas is on board with this then we’ll fly out to you guys and get to the bottom of this!” Gabe said.  
  
“That would be awesome” Meg said. And for the first time in the conversation, she cracked a bit of a smile. They said their goodbyes and hung up the call.  
  
"I don’t know, Gabe. This all does sound a little suspicious. She didn’t mention anything about video chatting and it’s not that hard to send a picture of yourself.” Kevin said, leaning back in his chair.  
  
"Well, maybe Cas never asked.” Gabe replied.  
  
"Yeah, OR this is some rando messing with him” Kevin retorted. As per usual, they would have to agree to disagree. Either way, they were packing their bags.  
  
…  
  
After getting settled at the hotel in LA, Kevin and Gabe packed up their gear and loaded themselves into their rental car. They recapped the situation again in the car for the go-pros attached to the windshield as their crew followed in a car behind them. They were headed to Meg’s apartment that she shared with Cas. While in the car they called Meg on speakerphone.  
  
“Hello?” Meg’s smoky voice came through the speaker.  
  
“Hey, Meg!” Gabe replied. “We are in LA and are headed over to your place to go through all this, is that cool?”  
  
“Yeah, that’s fine. Cas is here too.” Meg said.  
  
“Does he know we’re coming?” Kevin asked.  
  
“Yes, he knows you’re coming.” Meg answered. “He’s a little upset with me but I think he’s ready to meet Dean as well so he’s cool with it.”  
  
“Excellent. Well we’ll see you in about 10 minutes.” Gabe answered.  
  
…  
  
Meg met them at the door and invited them in. They set up the cameras and Gabe sat on the sofa with Meg while Kevin chose to sit in an armchair so that he could film on his smaller camera.  
  
“So where’s Cas?” Gabe asked. Obviously, Cas was not sitting in the room with them. Meg got up from her seat.  
  
“He’s hiding in his room. I’ll go get him.” Meg disappeared. Gabe shrugged and smiled into the camera that Kevin was pointing at his face. Kevin jokingly zoomed the camera in and out while Gabe made funny faces for a minute until Meg came out with Cas.  
  
“Cas, it’s nice to meet you!” Gabe said, rising to meet him. Meg went back and sat down on the couch while Gabe shook hands with Cas. Kevin zoomed in on Cas’s face. He was a good looking guy. He had nice blue eyes, a little bit of scruff on his chin, and dark, tousled hair. He didn’t appear to be angry or upset but he wasn’t exactly smiling from ear to ear.  
  
“Yes, it is nice to meet you as well.” Both Kevin and Gabe were taken aback at the deep, gravelly voice that came out of the man. “Although, I am still unclear as to why Meg called you.”  
  
“Well, have a seat and we’ll talk about the whole thing, ok?” Gabe asked. Cas sighed but took a seat next to Meg.  
  
“Ok, so from what we’ve heard from Meg, you have been in an online relationship with someone named Dean who lives in Kansas. And the relationship began about two years ago. However, you have never met in person, never video chatted, and never seen more than one picture of the man.” Gabe said. Cas nodded along to each bullet point. “So I have to ask, what makes you so confident that the person you are talking to is really Dean?”  
  
“He just….there’s no way he can’t be who he says he is.” Cas replied. “I will admit that I am not the most social person and I don’t always interact well with people. But with Dean, somehow everything just clicks. He gets my sense of humor in a way that only Meg usually does and he doesn’t seem to care that I’m a little…odd”  
  
“Tell us more about Dean. Why haven’t the two of you met yet?” Kevin prompted Cas to continue.  
  
“Dean is a mechanic in Lawrence, Kansas. He is working to support his family and doesn’t have the time or the money to come out to see me. About a year ago I offered once to come and visit him and he seemed excited and wanted me to come. But a few days before the trip, he called me and said that the timing actually wasn’t right. Something had just come up with his family and he would have to deal with it for a little while and that we would reschedule.”  
  
Gabe and Kevin shared a look.  
  
“What was it that he said came up?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Well, his father and stepmother were in an accident and….they both passed.”  
  
Gabe and Kevin were silent for a moment.  
  
"Wow, I’m really sorry to hear that.” Gabe said.  
  
“Yeah, well turns out that he had a half-brother as well and he had to deal with trying to get custody of him. It was a long process and I felt bad trying to bring up meeting again when he had so much on his plate.”  
  
“So Dean is the legal guardian of his half-brother? How old is he?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Dean is twenty two.” Cas replied. “He has a younger brother who is eighteen and their half-brother, Adam is about to turn three”  
  
“So he’s basically a full time parent to a toddler.” Gabe said.  
  
“Yeah, and he works so much to pay for his brother to go to college. He’ll be graduating high school this year and then he will be going to Stanford.” Cas said, smiling slightly. Meg put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
“So he’ll be in California? Only a few hours away?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Yes, but I didn’t want to bring up meeting.” Cas answered. “He’ll be dropping his brother off at college and I know that will be hard for him.”  
  
“I want him to be real.” Meg said. “Really, I do. I would feel like such a jerk for putting Cas through this and he wasn’t real but I think he has to know either way.”  
  
“Cas, do you ever video chat with Dean? Or has he sent you any pictures of himself?” Kevin asked.  
  
“No. He’s not very good with technology” Cas said, smiling fondly. “He doesn’t have a webcam and his cell phone isn’t a smart phone so there’s no camera.”  
  
“Well yeah but he still got the one picture on the dating website, couldn’t he have taken another to send to you?” Gabe prodded on. Cas shrugged.  
  
“I suppose he could have. But he explained about how he’s not very good with technology and I just sort of dropped it. I don’t care about physical appearance. I enjoy the individual with whom I’ve been speaking” Cas answered. “We talk about our lives and our families. We talk about my classes and he is so incredibly intelligent. Some people may not think so because he didn’t go to college, but we have really in depth conversation about literature and philosophy.”  
  
“And do you say that you are dating?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Yes. We consider ourselves a couple.” Cas answered.  
  
Gabe looked over at Kevin who held his camera steady.  
  
“Ok, well if you’ve seen the show then you know this is the part where we go and investigate Dean and try and see if we can determine whether he is who he says he is. Is that cool with you?” Gabe asks. Cas looked a little uneasy.  
  
“I am not sure how comfortable I feel going behind Dean’s back and it seems like a betrayal to assume that he is lying to me.” Cas said, after a moment of thought. Gabe nodded.  
  
“That’s completely fair. However, I would like you to think of this more as an attempt to finally bring you and Dean together.” Gabe offered. “Do you want to meet Dean?”  
  
“More than anything.” Cas replied.  
  
“Ok, well the only way to do that is to determine whether Dean is for real. And whether he is or not, we want you to know the truth and finally get you two to meet face to face.”  
  
Cas paused. He rubbed his hand over his face before looking over at Meg. She did not look apologetic.  
  
“Yes, I suppose it would be ok with me for you to investigate Dean. I just want to meet him.”  
  
…  
  
A little while later, Kevin and Gabe were back at the hotel room. They got their equipment set up and Gabe logged into his e-mail.  
  
“Ok so, Cas sent us an e-mail with all of the information that he has on Dean, including the link to his dating profile. So why don’t we start there.” Gabe narrated out loud for the cameras. He clicked on the link for Dean’s OkCupid profile and it popped up in Gabe’s web browser.  
  
“Ok, let’s see here.” Gabe muttered, scrolling through the website. “So we have the one picture that anyone has seen of this guy. It’s clearly a man, looks tall-ish, some muscle, and blonde hair. Not quite a model but still a good looking guy. He’s leaning against some sort of classic car.”  
  
“It seems like your typical ‘cool guy profile pic.’” Kevin inserted. “Look at me, leaning against my cool car like I don’t give a crap.” Gabe chuckled.  
  
“Maybe I should make that my profile pic. Might get more ladies.” Gabe winked into the camera.  
  
They tried a reverse image search of the picture and it came up with no matches. So the picture didn’t appear to be stolen from anywhere. They decided to scroll through Dean’s profile more. Meg was right, it was pretty sparse.  
  
“He has the vaguest about me section. ‘Dean. Mechanic. I love cars and Vonnegut. My brother made me make this page.’” Kevin read out loud. “Well, he’s mentioned the one brother, but what about the half-brother?”  
  
“Maybe, he hasn’t updated the page for a while. If he’s been dating Cas then he probably wouldn’t be as active on here.” Gabe said, trying to be positive as usual.  
  
“But you think he’d mention that he is the parent to his half-brother. That’s pretty important information to make public if you’re looking to date someone.” Kevin fought back. “I mean, maybe he made it up. He only mentioned the one brother and then as soon as Cas is going to go visit all of a sudden his dad and step mom are dead and he has a half-brother he never mentioned?”  
  
“It does sound like something someone could have made up. It’s almost too crazy to be true. But on the other hand, it is pretty specific. He could have just said his brother was in an accident, he didn’t need to make up a half-brother and a step mom.” Gabe retorted.  
  
“Let’s try running his name through facebook. See if he really doesn’t have one.” Kevin said. Gabe complied, and typed ‘Dean Winchester’ into the search bar of the website. There were a few who popped up but none looked like the Dean Winchester on the dating profile and none were located in Kansas.  
  
“What was the name of Dean’s brother? Sam?” Gabe asked, although he was already typing the name into the facebook search bar. “If he’s eighteen then he probably has a facebook page.”  
  
And sure enough, Sam Winchester from Lawrence, Kansas popped up. The page, however, was private and they really weren’t able to see much. They were able to see that the boy had brown hair, appeared to be located in Lawrence, Kansas, and was currently attending Lawrence Prep.  
  
“Ok, so the brother is definitely real. Is there maybe a chance that Dean is actually Sam? A younger guy, pretending to be an older man online?” Gabe started reasoning out loud.  
  
"Well Cas is only twenty so I feel like if Sam wanted to date an older guy he would probably reach a little higher. I mean, an eighteen year old can date a twenty year old without a fake profile.” Kevin argued back.  
  
“True. Well, do you think we should message Sam? Ask him about his brother?” Gabe asked Kevin.  
  
“Normally I would say yes….but Cas seems to be really nervous about it coming across to Dean that he was going behind his back.” Kevin replied. “I would hate for Sam to tip off Dean that we were asking questions, he has to know about the show.”  
  
"Alright, well let’s run the number” Gabe said. They copied Dean’s number from Cas’s e-mail and pasted it into the search bar on the phone number look up website that they used.  
  
“Whoa” Kevin said. He zoomed the camera in on the name that had appeared with the phone: Robert Singer, Age 48, Lawrence, Ks.  
  
“Who is Robert Singer?” Gabe asked. They tried googling his name but nothing came up.  
  
“Ok, let’s recap” Gabe said. “All we know for sure about Dean is that he has this dating profile. He may or may not be the person in the picture, although it doesn’t seem to be stolen from the internet. There is a Sam Winchester on facebook but we don’t know if he is actually related to Dean. And Dean’s phone number is registered to a Bobby Singer.”  
  
“The one thing that all of these things have in common, is Lawrence, Kansas.” Kevin added. “It’s where Dean says he’s from, it’s where Sam’s profile page says he’s from, and Dean’s phone number is a Lawrence phone number.”  
  
“I think we need to go to Lawrence.” Gabe said, smiling at Kevin.  
  
…  
  
They were back at Meg and Cas’s apartment, sitting at the kitchen table this time. Meg was in class so it was just Kevin, Cas, and Gabe sitting in front of Gabe’s laptop. Gabe and Kevin laid everything that they found out for Cas and let him digest it.  
  
“So, basically, we haven’t found anything about this guy anywhere else on the internet. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.” Gabe said. “It means that he could be telling the truth. But we do still think it’s odd that there is a 22 year old man who has absolutely no online presence aside from a dating profile.”  
  
“But, Sam Winchester appears to be real.” Kevin jumped in. “But we have no idea who Robert Singer is.”  
  
“Dean does have an Uncle Bobby.” Cas offered.  
  
“Ok, so maybe the phone is registered to his uncle for some reason.” Gabe said.  
  
“OR, Bobby could have made up Dean to chat with younger men online. Or maybe Dean is real and Bobby is using his image.” Kevin inserted. Cas deflated a little and Gabe rolled his eyes.  
  
“Ok so that might be a bit of a stretch, but we do need to consider all of our options.” Gabe said.  
  
“So basically we have no information.” Cas said, cupping his hands around the mug of coffee sitting in front of him.  
  
“There is one thing.” Gabe said. “The one link between everything seems to be Lawrence, Kansas. So whoever this Dean guy is, he’s in Lawrence.”  
  
“Just like he said.” Cas said. He looked down into his coffee cup, although he hadn’t taken a drink yet.  
  
"You seem a little disappointed?” Gabe asked. Cas paused for a moment.  
  
“I guess I am a little.” Cas said. “I guess I was sort of hoping that you would find conclusive evidence that he was real and I would be able to meet him knowing for sure that he is who he says he is. But now…I guess I’m having doubts. I don’t like feeling like this.”  
  
There was a brief pause as they let Cas have a moment. Gabe reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
“Look, man. We’re not saying it’s all a lie. And almost everything we’ve found hasn’t necessarily proved or disproved anything. In fact, it looks more and more like what he is saying is true, just that he’s such a weird, non-technological dude.” Gabe said, trying to be comforting. Cas nodded and stared at Dean’s profile picture that was up on the screen.  
  
“So what happens now?” Cas asked.  
  
“Well, typically at this point, we would call Dean and tell him that we are with you and that we want to bring the two of you together.” Kevin said.  
“I would like that very much.” Cas said.  
  
“So if we call him and he is ready to meet up, would you be free for us to go to Lawrence as early as today?” Gabe asked. Cas seemed to think for a moment before nodding.  
  
“Ok. Well let’s give Dean a call.” Gabe picked up his phone and dialed Dean’s number. Gabe walked out onto the small porch off the back of the house, leaving Cas and Kevin to sit and wait.  
  
“Hello?” Came a voice through speakerphone.  
  
“Yeah, hello! Is this Dean?” Gabe asked. There was a pause.  
  
“Who’s this?” Came the response. Not necessarily short, but definitely no nonsense.  
  
“My name is Gabe, I’m the host of a show called Trickster. I’m not sure you’ve heard of it….” Gabe trailed off.  
  
“Uh…I think so. Is that that show where you bust old dudes pretending to be hot chicks on the internet?”  
  
“Sort of. We try to help out people who are in online relationships and are having difficulties meeting up with their significant others.” Gabe replied. There was a silence on the line. Then there was some shuffling and the voice came back, a little quieter.  
  
“Is this about Cas?”  
  
“Yes, it is! Sorry, could you confirm for me that this is Dean?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Yes, this is Dean. Did Cas call you? Does he think I’m lying to him about something?” Dean said.  
  
“Cas very much wants to believe that you are who you say you are.” Gabe said. “A friend of his was concerned that you may be deceiving him which is why they contacted the show. We really want to bring the two of you together to meet for the first time. Is that something that you want to do?”  
  
Dean sighed on the other end of the phone.  
  
“Of course I want to meet, Cas.” Dean said. “I’m just not….I’ll have to talk to a few people. Fuck, you guys aren’t here now are you?”  
  
“No, we’re still in Los Angeles. But we can fly out tonight and be there tomorrow.”  
  
“Ok….ok yeah I can do that. I’ll just talk to my boss about work and….yeah tomorrow is good.”  
  
“Do you have somewhere you want to meet? We can meet you anywhere you want. You are in Lawrence, right?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Yeah, I’m in Lawrence. I’ll send you my address.”  
  
“Great, we look forward to meeting you. I’ll call you tomorrow morning when we’re in Lawrence to get the details”  
  
…  
  
Cas was packing his bag when Meg walked into his room. He ignored her.  
  
“Aw, come on Clarence. Don’t be like that.” Meg said. She walked over and flopped down on his bed.  
  
“I still can’t believe you did this.” Cas said, shoving clothes into his duffel. Then he pulled the clothes back out, folded them nicely, and put them neatly back in to the duffel.  
  
“But you’re getting to meet him finally! At least that came out of it.” Meg said.  
  
"Yes, but I didn’t want to meet him under these circumstances.” Cas said. He paused in his packing and turned to Meg. “Our relationship has been wonderful and now he feels pressured into meeting me because he thinks that I think he is a liar.”  
  
Cas sighed, frustrated, and flopped down on his bed next to Meg.  
  
“What if he hates me. Or what if I’m not what he thought.” He asked Meg quietly.  
  
“That’s impossible. He’s going to love you.” Meg replied, grabbing his hand. They laid there for a few minutes more until a producer came and told them that Cas needed to be ready to leave in a few minutes. He stood up and continued packing.  
  
…  
  
The next morning found Cas waking up in a hotel room in Lawrence. Someone was knocking at his door and when he answered he found a camera shoved in his face.  
  
“Good morning, Cas!” Came Gabe’s chipper voice from behind the camera. Cas grumbled but let the crew in.  
  
“So I got a text from Dean this morning. He sent his address and we can head on over as soon as you’re ready.”  
  
“Wow. Ok…I guess I will take a shower then and get dressed.” Cas replied, looking lost with his tousled hair and superhero boxers.  
  
“Hey, you ok?” Gabe asked. He trained the camera on Cas’s face.  
  
“Yes. I am just nervous about meeting him after all this time.” Cas said. “And I guess I am afraid that he will react negatively to our first meeting taking place with me showing up on his lawn with an entire camera crew with pitchforks and accusations.” Gabe handed the camera off to Kevin.  
  
“I made it clear on my phone call with Dean that you truly wanted to believe that he was telling the truth about everything. And I made sure he knew that it wasn’t you that wrote into the show. I think the best thing to do right now would be to take this opportunity to finally meet him, and you will be able to talk through everything.”  
  
“Wow, Gabe, that’s the most insightful thing you’ve ever said on the show” Kevin said. Gabe turned and looked directly into the camera.  
  
“Bite me”  
  
…  
  
Cas played with the cuffs of his sleeves and fiddled with the seatbelt, and altogether avoided looking up at the camera mounted on the windshield directly in front of his face. They were a few minutes away from the address that Dean had texted Gabe and Cas couldn’t believe that they were actually going to meet today.  
  
“Let’s just remember to keep an open mind.” Kevin was advising from the back seat. “He could be exactly who he says he is and everything could be true. But we have to remember that some or all of what he has said could be a lie, or he could be hiding something. I think we just need to be prepared for every circumstance.”  
  
“I am prepared.” Cas replied, voice tight.  
  
They pulled into the driveway of a nice little farmhouse. They got out of the car and made their way up to the porch. Cas stood just off the porch with Kevin and the crew behind them as Gabe went up to knock on the door. Cas felt his breath catch in his throat as the door handle twisted and slowly opened.  
  
And Dean walked out.  
  
Cas could have melted in relief. He couldn’t even hear Gabe as he greeted Dean and shook his hand. The awkward introductions over, Gabe turned to lead Dean down the stairs. Dean’s eyes met Cas’s and they both paused.  
  
“Hey Cas.” Dean said with a smile. He shuffled his feet a little and looked around at the cameras. “Not exactly how I pictured our first meeting” He chuckled a little and Cas smiled back.  
  
“It’s not what I was thinking of either.” Cas said. There was a momentary beat before they both went in for a hug. Dean closed his eyes and tried to ignore the cameras and the fact that there was a mic jammed down the back of his pants, and just be with Cas in that moment.  
  
“I’m really glad you’re here” Dean said, quietly before they stepped back from their hug.  
  
“Ok, so obviously you are the same guy from the dating website.” Gabe said, trying to begin the interview portion of the meet and greet.  
  
“Yes, I am. I wasn’t aware that Cas had any doubts or I would have done something about it.” Dean said.  
  
“I didn’t have any doubts.” Cas spoke up. Dean smiled at him. “I never once doubted anything you said to me. But, my friend had concerns that I was being naïve and contacted Gabe and Kevin to help me. And in a way, I’m glad that they did. Because I’m here now and I get to see you and spend some time with you.”  
  
Dean and Cas spent a few beats just smiling and staring. Each not believing that the other was really there. Gabe finally interrupted.  
  
“So I do have a few questions, maybe we could go inside and have a seat? Talk about some stuff?” Gabe suggested. Dean and Cas agreed and they all headed into the house.  
  
Dean and Cas sat together on the couch while the crew set up their cameras.  
  
“You have a lovely home, Dean” Cas said. “It….looks like you.”  
  
“Thanks. Yeah, I’ve done a lot of work on it over the years.” Dean replied.  
  
“Yes, I remember you mentioning that you were working on the porch last year, it turned out lovely.” There was a bit of a silence before Cas spoke up again.  
  
“I just wanted to reiterate that I did not doubt your identity until 24 hours ago. I fully believed that you had no reason to lie to me. It was only when they were having difficulty finding information on you that I began to fear that I had been duped.”  
  
“Yeah, I mean I’ve mentioned that I’m not really a tech guy but I guess I didn’t really go into how bad I was at all of it.” Dean said, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. At that point the cameras were set up and Gabe was sitting across from them on the couch with Kevin standing nearby with his handheld.  
  
“So Dean, we’re all pretty happy that you turned out to be real. I’m sure Cas is the happiest.”  
  
Cas smiled and nodded and Dean chucked a little.  
  
“Now, we did have a few questions for you. Dean, why do you only have the one picture on your dating profile? And honestly, it seemed a little vague.” Gabe said.  
  
“Well, my little brother made me make it. I mostly did it to appease him because he thinks I’m lonely or something.” Dean said. “I didn’t think anything would come of it. I had a few messages from people who liked my car but the one thing I had put in my interests was Vonnegut. And there was Cas, actually asking my opinion about a book. That’s something that most people don’t talk to me about.”  
  
“People don’t think you’re smart?” Kevin asked.  
  
“I wouldn’t say that. I guess it’s just that, I’m not exactly known for being the genius of the family, that’s Sammy’s territory. And I mean, I’m a mechanic so I spend most of my days working with my hands. It’s not every day that I’m at the bar and someone will look at me and think ‘I wonder what that guy thought of Cat’s Cradle.’ But Cas did.” Dean answered.  
  
“Why is it that you never visited Cas?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Well, it’s over twenty-two hours to drive out to LA – trust me, I looked into it. But I would have to split it into two days and so in order to go out and be able to spend even one day with him, I would have to lose at least a week of work. And with the financial situation, I can’t afford to do that.”  
  
“Why did you have to drive?” Kevin asked.  
  
“Dean’s afraid of flying” Cas answered. He remembered Dean telling him that when they had discussed meeting up for the first time. Dean nodded in agreement.  
  
“It would take a lot to get me into a flying, metal death trap” Dean answered, laughing.  
  
“You don’t think Cas would have been worth the plane trip?” Gabe asked. It was a loaded question but Dean played along.  
  
“Of course I do. But when we first started talking about meeting up, we had only been talking for a few months. We cared about each other but it was still new. After that, he had plans to come here and that fell through. But after that, he never brought it up again. So we never talked about it.”  
  
“What happened when Cas was supposed to visit last year?” Gabe asked. Dean licked his lips and rubbed his hands on his jeans.  
  
“Yeah, um….it was a bit of a mess. A few days before Cas was supposed to be flying out I got a call that my dad and step mom, Kate, were in an accident. So I had to call Cas and postpone. Kate died that night and…my dad died a few days later from complications. Adam was barely two and Sam was seventeen. Since Sam was so close to being eighteen I didn’t really have to fight for custody. But with Adam being so young they wanted to put him in foster care so he could get a ‘real family.’ So I fought to become his legal guardian so I could take care of him. It took a couple of weeks but I was finally granted custody. Since then, I’m always busy taking care of him and Sam or working. I have to always have a job and they monitor my income to make sure that Adam can stay. I don’t want to risk anything that might get him taken away.” Cas had moved a little closer to Dean on the couch and had placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as he finished his story.  
  
“That’s an amazing story, Dean. You seem like a really great guy and I’m so happy that this all turned out to be real.” Gabe said. Kevin wasn’t quite done with the questions yet though.  
  
"Why is it that you never sent any pictures to Cas? Or why did you never try video chatting?”  
  
At that moment, Dean pulled out his phone. They were surprised to find it to be a very old model. It clearly did not have a camera on it.  
  
“The only reason I had the picture I put on the dating website was because my brother took it. I don’t have a phone with a camera and I don’t know how to get pictures from an actual camera onto my computer. My brother knows but….I guess I didn’t want to ask for his help.”  
  
“Why not?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Umm…I’m not really a sentimental kind of guy. And I didn’t want him to be asking me questions about why I needed to send someone pictures of myself. Plus, he’s still a kid, and I wouldn’t be setting a good example for him by sending pictures of myself to a stranger. And it’s basically the same with the video chatting thing. He would want to know why and I didn’t know how to explain that I was in a relationship with someone I’d never met.”  
  
“So, your brother doesn’t know about Cas?” Gabe asked. Cas looked at Dean and bit his lip.  
  
“He didn’t…until last night.” Dean said. “It wasn’t because I was ashamed of Cas or anything, really. I’m just not very open about my feelings and junk and…yeah I don’t know. He didn’t care. He was happy for me. And he’s known I’m gay for years so it wasn’t anything like that either.” Dean looked over at Cas.  
  
“I am a little upset that it doesn’t seem like you told anyone about me.” Cas said carefully “However, I can’t get too mad, as only my friend Meg knew about you. She’s the one who called the show, actually.”  
  
“Well I will have to send her a fruit basket or something then.” Dean joked. The tension let out of the room a little as everyone laughed.  
  
“One last question, Dean. Who is Robert Singer?” Kevin asked.  
  
“Bobby? Bobby Singer is my boss. He’s also a really close family friend. Why? How did his name come up?” Dean asked.  
  
“We ran your phone number and it was registered to his name.” Gabe answered.  
  
"Oh, well that makes sense. It used to be his phone. He gave it to me when he got a new one a few years ago because my dad wasn’t working and I couldn’t afford one.” Dean said.  
  
“Ok, well that answers all of my questions for now. I guess Dean and Cas, we’ll leave you two alone for a little while to talk or hang out or whatever. Cas, you can just call me when you’re ready to go back to the hotel and we’ll have someone pick you up. You know…IF you wanna go back to the hotel.” Gabe finished with a wink. Cas rolled his eyes but smiled.  
  
…  
  
Dean decided to take Cas on a bit of a tour around his small town. He drove them over to a small park and they got out and started down the walking path.  
  
“This is a lovely park, Dean.” Cas said, hoping to fill the awkward silence.  
  
“Yeah, I come here a few times a week. It’s usually quiet….and stuff.” Dean answered. The both continued walking. Dean kicked a rock in the path. Cas stopped in his tracks.  
  
“Why is this weird?” Cas asked. Dean laughed and turned around.  
  
“Dude, I have no idea.” He said. “When we’re on the phone, I can say anything to you. But now it’s like…I don’t know. I told you I’m not, like a feelings kind of guy. It’s always been kind of hard to talk about stuff with people. I don’t know.” Dean ran a hand through his hair. He turned as if to turn around but instead put his hands in his pockets and looked at his feet.  
  
“Do you…” Cas started cautiously, “Dean, do you wish I hadn’t come?”  
  
Dean’s head shot up.  
  
“No! I don’t wish that at all. I’m really glad to finally have met you, you know, in person.” Dean said, gesturing to Cas.  
  
“Then why is it that you feel like you are only able to talk to me through a phone? Why is it so difficult to say the things you’ve already said to me, now that I’m standing in front of you?” Cas asked, voice gentle.  
  
“Because….if you’re here and I say everything that I can only usually say on the phone….or if I say things that I’ve wanted to say for a long time then that means that this” Dean gestured between the two of them “is real. It’s a real, actual relationship. And I haven’t ever done very well in that department. And I tend to mess up a lot and I really don’t want to mess up what we have. Because it’s pretty freaking awesome.”  
  
“Dean, you’re not going to mess it up.” Cas said, taking a step towards Dean. “Me being here doesn’t change anything. I don’t think or feel any differently towards you now that I’ve met you. So don’t feel like you have to talk to me differently or act differently. I know you put up a bit of a front around your family and friends, but you don’t need to be that way with me.” Cas reached out and tugged Dean’s arm, joining their hands as Dean’s slipped free from his pocket. “I care about you, Dean. I have for two years now, and I hope to for a long time. Don’t shut me out because you’re scared I’m going to go away. Because I’m not going anywhere.”  
  
Cas squeezed Dean’s hand gently and Dean squeezed back.  
  
“Okay?” Cas prompted. Dean nodded his head and lifted his eyes to meet Cas.  
  
“Yeah.” Dean answered. Cas smiled.  
  
“You’re supposed to say ‘Okay’ back to me.” Cas said, jokingly. Dean rolled his eyes.  
  
“Man, I told you I’m not watching the sad kids with cancer movie!” Dean said as Cas laughed. “The one movie you’ve seen in the past ten years and it’s that one.”  
  
They both chuckled and continued down the path.  
  
How is Adam doing?” Cas asked.  
  
“Good. He’s in day care right now and he’s been doing really well getting along with the other kids.” Dean said. And like that, Dean was off talking about Adam and then Sammy while Cas offered his own updates on the people in his life that he had told Dean about. It seemed like the awkwardness had passed and things were just how they were supposed to be.  
  
Dean drove Cas around the town a bit more and pointed out a few things that he had mentioned over the past two years. The small, local vet clinic; Sam’s high school; The auto body shop where Dean worked. Eventually they ended up at the Roadhouse.  
  
“You’ve mentioned this place to me before.” Cas remembered. “They have delicious burgers, right?”  
  
Dean thrummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The car was off and they were sitting in the parking lot.  
  
“Yeah…they do” Dean said. He seemed hesitant. “Look, Cas don’t freak out or anything but….when my brother found out about you last night he blabbed and told Bobby and Ellen.”  
  
“Ellen…..she is a friend of your Uncle’s, right?” Cas said, trying to remember the people in Dean’s life that he had briefly mentioned.  
  
“And she actually owns the Roadhouse as well.” Dean said. “They’re all inside. They wanted me to bring you by to meet them.” Dean was quick to follow up that statement with “You don’t have to. I get that it might be a lot. I can just call and tell them we’re tired or something.”  
  
Dean was already reaching for his phone when Cas’s hand stopped him.  
  
“Dean, I am the one who barged into your life with a camera crew.” Cas said with a smile. “The least I can do is meet your family.”  
  
Dean smiled back and they got out of the car. As they approached the door, Dean reached out and interlaced his fingers with Cas’s. They both shared a smile before pushing the door open to face the storm.  
  
…  
  
Cas had to admit. Dean’s family was….a lot. Especially given that most of those in attendance weren’t actually related to him.  
  
He had met Ellen, who seemed stern but warm hearted. She loaded him up a plate with food, gave him a soda, and gave him the ‘hurt him and they’ll never find your body’ speech all with a smile on her face and within the span of five minutes.  
  
Cas was then seated next to Bobby who gave an abbreviated version of the speech which mostly revolved around willingness to use his shotgun. But he clapped Cas on the shoulder and thanked him for being good to Dean.  
  
Sam looked just like his facebook picture. He was smiling from ear to ear and shook Cas’s hand vigorously when they met. He kept stating that he knew something was up with Dean recently, as he had seemed so happy. Dean put Sam in a headlock when he started saying ‘I told you so’ about the dating profile.  
  
While they were distracted, Adam had managed to climb up into the booth next to him. He didn’t say much, as Dean had told him that he was a little shy around people. But he offered Cas one of the grapes he was eating so Cas thought that he had his approval.  
  
They didn’t stay long. Dean hoisted up a sleepy Adam who rested his head on Dean’s shoulder and closed his eyes. They decided that they should head out so Adam could be put to bed.  
  
“Dean, let us watch Adam for you. Sam can stay over too.” Ellen said, catching them before they headed to the door.  
  
“Are you sure? I don’t have anything for him to change into here so I would have to go home anyway.” Dean replied. Ellen gave him a bit of a guilty smile.  
  
“We already have an overnight bag for Adam. And Sam brought one as well.” Ellen said. Dean rolled his eyes but passed Adam over after giving him a kiss on the head.  
  
“Thanks Ellen. I owe you one.”  
  
Ellen waved him off and shooed them out of the building. Dean managed to call out goodbye to Bobby and Sam before the door shut in their face. Dean turned to Cas, his cheeks reddening slightly.  
  
“Listen, Cas….don’t feel like…I mean, you don’t have to come over or anything…I didn’t know they planned-“ Dean was cut off when Cas silenced him with a kiss. Dean was frozen momentarily before reaching out and letting his fingers skim Cas’s waist. Cas’s hands were on either side of Dean’s neck, one sliding around to the back of his head as he pressed their lips insistently together. Dean tightened his grip and wrapped his arms around Cas, pulling him closer. They kissed there for a few moments, under the neon light above the Roadhouse. They pulled back a moment later and caught their breath.  
  
“I would like very much to go home with you, Dean.” Cas said, voice low and eyes hooded.  
  
…  
  
It was much later, in the dark of Dean’s bedroom, curled up in a nest of sheets and pillows that Dean and Cas traded their first in person ‘I love you’s.’  
  
…  
  
Two Months Later  
  
“Hey Dean-o! How are things?!” Gabe asked, when Dean popped up on his laptop screen. It was time to film the epilogue for the episode, which consisted of Kevin and Gabe calling the two people for an update on their lives since the show.  
  
“Hey Gabe. Things are going pretty well.” Dean said.  
  
“I notice you have a webcam now!” Kevin said. Dean laughed.  
  
“Yeah, well now that Sammy knows about Cas it was easier to get him to help me use one.” Dean replied.  
  
“Have you been able to video chat with Cas since we left?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Yeah, we video chat all the time. I actually miss seeing him. I mean, I would always miss talking to him if we couldn’t talk but it never bothered me that I couldn’t see him until now.” Dean said. “I guess now that I know what it’s like to look him in the eyes when we talk, over the phone just doesn’t cut it anymore.”  
  
“So you guys are still together?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Absolutely. We are stronger than ever.” Dean replied.  
  
“Why don’t we just add Cas to this chat? Instead of doing a whole separate one?” Kevin suggested. Gabe and Dean agreed so Kevin pushed a few buttons and conferenced in Cas.  
  
“Hello Dean.” Cas said, smiling.  
  
“Hey there, Cas!” Gabe said. Cas greeted Kevin and Gabe as well before they started asking him questions.  
  
“Now that we have met, we trade a lot more pictures and Dean and I video chat frequently.” Cas said.  
  
“Oh you trade lots of pictures? And you video chat a lot…..any of those happen to be late night video chats?” Gabe asked, waggling his eyebrows a little. Cas turned red and just clapped a hand over his eyes, shaking his head. Dean just laughed and said that he ‘pleaded the fifth.’  
  
“Any plans to get together again anytime soon?” Gabe asked.  
  
“Yes.” Cas said. “My semester is over in a couple weeks and I will be going to stay with Dean for the summer.”  
  
“That’s awesome you guys!” Gabe said. He turned to Kevin “And you thought it was Uncle Bobby.”  
  
Kevin just rolled his eyes.  
  
“Was Meg happy when she found out Dean was real?” Kevin asked.  
  
“Yes, she was very glad that he wasn’t a fake profile. She probably would have done something stupid and spiteful if Dean hadn’t been who he said he was.” Cas said. He said it with a smile, but his eyes showed a little bit of nervousness which implied that he was incredibly serious about Meg’s vengeful spirit.  
  
“Well you guys, I’m glad it all worked out and Dean wasn’t a Trickster. And we’re really excited for you guys!” Gabe said. Dean and Cas thanked him and they ended the call.  
  
…  
  
Later that year the episode aired. Cas happened to be visiting Dean during his winter break so they had a little viewing party. At the end of the episode, text appeared on the screen to show the most up to date status of the couple.  
  
‘Cas and Dean continue to have a long distance relationship. They are more in love than ever. After graduation, Cas plans to attend veterinary school at Kansas State University to be closer to Dean.’


End file.
